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Work Won't Somebody Please Think of the Data Centers? Almost everyone hates them--and what they represent. I went inside the shadow industry that's trying to change your mind. Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. You're already subscribed to the aa_Christina_Cauterucci newsletter. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again, or manage all your newsletter subscriptions here .

Denver Kanowski believes the datacentre to be built to power Anthropic's Claude will go beyond harming the environment by disconnecting people from the things that really matter. Denver Kanowski believes the datacentre to be built to power Anthropic's Claude will go beyond harming the environment by disconnecting people from the things that really matter. Rural Queenslanders have seen gas projects come and go - but a 725-hectare datacentre poses a whole new level of'stupidity' Residents of Dalby may soon live beside a $31bn datacentre. The premier sees'opportunity' for the state - but others fear AI's global creep From the veranda on his bush block, Denver Kanowski has watched resources companies come and go from rural Queensland for 70 years. The home cost him $800, and lets him live how he likes, in nature.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, data center projects in rural areas could be eligible for major tax benefits starting next year. Some hyperscalers do not seem eager to take the free cash. Welcome back to Power Play! Each week, senior writer Molly Taft tackles a topic around this midterm season's biggest issue: data centers. If you've got a question or thought for the column, feel free to shoot Molly an email at [email protected] or reach them securely on Signal at mollytaft.76.

Amazon Says It's No Longer Using NDAs for Data Centers The company announced it will stop using secret agreements with county officials and acknowledges community backlash could lead to data center "moratoriums" across the country. Amazon has made a series of new public commitments to communities where it's building data centers, including making an official announcement that it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements in its arrangements with county officials. In a blog post published Friday, CEO Matt Garman detailed the steps the company says it's already taking around data centers. In addition to stopping the use of NDAs, Garman says $1 billion will be invested over the next five years in communities that house the company's data centers. The money will go toward free community college programs, workforce training, and energy efficiency upgrades for schools, homes, and community buildings.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Flow Launcher lets you find files, launch apps, search the web, and more without touching your mouse. Windows Search is fine, I guess. But Flow Launcher is a much quicker way to get around. While regular Windows Search can be slow with hit-or-miss results, Flow Launcher optimizes search results and uses keyboard shortcuts to navigate--and shortcuts are just better .

A federal judge has dismissed lawsuits from publisher Penske Media Corporation (PMC) and ed tech company Chegg that alleged Google's AI Overviews illegally pulled readers away by repackaging their online content, Reuters reports. In a memorandum opinion on both lawsuits, Judge Amit Mehta, coincidentally the same judge who ruled that Google maintained a monopoly in online search services in 2024, said the companies failed to argue the search provider violated antitrust laws. PMC and Chegg's original lawsuits claimed that Google was using AI Overviews and its vast index of the web to siphon traffic away from their online ad businesses, hurting their revenue. Chegg additionally said that Google was effectively forcing websites to offer their content up for AI scraping or face being excluded from search results. Judge Mehta dismissed both claims for a variety of reasons, but broadly found that neither company convincingly argued that Google was leveraging its monopoly to get them to provide free material for its AI, or that the search provider was trying to gain an unfair advantage in digital publishing.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is trying to introduce more search choices where Google has the tightest control: Android smartphones and the Chrome browser. The regulator has proposed allowing users to choose their preferred search provider on those platforms so Google's own search engine isn't used automatically. The CMA also wants to change rules around AI assistants and require search providers to give clearer attribution to publisher content when used. The new proposal follows measures recommended at the beginning of 2026. The CMA's latest proposal has three primary recommendations.

The technology could strap onto existing gas turbines and make them more efficient--but it wouldn't do away with their emissions entirely. A new company has a plan to make the dirty gas turbines powering data centers more efficient: liquid carbon dioxide. American Supercritical came out of stealth Wednesday, announcing $8 million in funding. It wants to retrofit inefficient gas turbines that many data centers rely on for power with units that can generate more power, without adding more emissions (though the gas-fired turbines will continue to emit carbon pollution). The technology can also theoretically be used on a wide variety of energy sources at a time when power demand is skyrocketing.

Abigail Spanberger's Virginia data center plan faces criticism for restricting natural gas generation while aiming to stabilize an increasingly strained electric grid.